


One Of Those Perfect Mornings

by afteriwake



Series: Stuff Of Improbable Legends [50]
Category: Vampire Academy Series - Richelle Mead
Genre: Accidental Overnight Visit, Adorkable, Asking out on a Date, Couch Cuddles, Couches, Cute James, Cute Zoe, F/M, Fluff, Literal Sleeping Together, Morning Cuddles, Morning Kisses, Sleepovers, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-14
Updated: 2016-04-14
Packaged: 2018-06-02 05:58:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,144
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6553717
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/afteriwake/pseuds/afteriwake
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The morning after they have their first kiss, James and Zoe wake up together after falling asleep on the sofa after watching movies and James asks her to the dance at Verdant.</p>
            </blockquote>





	One Of Those Perfect Mornings

**Author's Note:**

  * For [sideofrawr](https://archiveofourown.org/users/sideofrawr/gifts).



> So **sideofrawr** and I have the thread done for the first kiss between James and Zoe (it involves him being cocky about her not being able to pin him to the mat during a friendly sparring session, and her doing it in less than three minutes, and then being walked in by her boss's son) and this is the aftermath of that. You might see a few more fics revolving around the Spring Fling being thrown at Verdant by Thea in the series (I know I _definitely_ have one planned with Allison and Armand), as it will be the quasi-prom for a few of the characters, like Zoe and future!Kenzi.

It took him a few minutes to get his bearings when he woke up. He was trying to figure out why he wasn’t in bed, why there was a weight against him, and why the TV was on, and then he realized he’d fallen asleep on the couch and he hadn’t fallen asleep alone. He was stretched out on the couch and Zoe was curled up half against him, half on top of him, and he had his arm around her and a blanket draped over both of them.

He could honestly get used to this.

He ran a hand along her arm, shifting his position slightly to get a bit more comfortable on his back and pull her on top of him more. She snuggled into him and he grinned at that, ducking his head slightly to kiss the top of her head. He’d been thankful Livvy had been out the night before and hadn’t walked in on them so far, and he was hoping his luck held out for at least a little while longer. Oh, he was fairly sure she _knew_ ; just because Chris hadn’t given him shit the evening the night before didn’t mean he wouldn’t go off and blab to his sister that he’d walked in on her baby brother making out with the girl he was violently denying he was attracted to in the middle of the Center’s gymnasium.

But hell, it was worth it. It was damn well worth it.

They gone back inside the Center eventually and gotten their stuff and caught a cab to Clover Grill and gotten a meal, complete with milkshake. He’d been the one to suggest capping the night off with a movie at his place, hoping that Livvy was off enjoying some time with her boyfriend. They’d gotten there and been in luck, and they’d settled on the couch to watch some of the movies Livvy had gotten since she’d arrived that Zoe had chosen. He’d honestly been surprised they watched as much of the movies as they did, but he was still trying to behave and let her decide what she wanted to initiate. It wasn’t to say that there wasn’t kissing, but there wasn’t as much as he’d thought there would be.

But eventually she started to get tired, and so was he, and he’d just draped a blanket over the two of them and they’d just drifted off, and now here they were, the next morning, curled up on the sofa together. He was pretty sure this was something she’d never done before, and he hoped she didn’t freak over this. He’d find out in a minute, he realized, as she started to wake up and her eyelids fluttered open. She yawned slightly and then gave him a sleepy smile. “Morning,” she said.

“Morning,” he said with a grin back, reaching up and smoothing her hair back. “Are you hungry?”

She nodded. “Yeah, a bit,” she said. “Not _really_ hungry, but a little.”

“I can make you breakfast,” he said, shifting slightly. “Pancakes, waffles, oatmeal, omelets, bacon, sausage, grits...anything you want.”

“Pancakes sound good,” she said. “Can you make different kinds?”

“Yeah,” he said. “I think we have a few different kinds of fruits for smoothies, and I can put them in pancakes. And Livvy won’t mind if I use some of her yogurt for the base.”

Zoe’s grin got wider. “You really are a foodie, aren’t you?”

James nodded. “I totally got it from my mom and my uncle. More my uncle, I think. He _loves_ cooking. I didn’t get his love of spicy foods, though. He was so disappointed I didn’t like wasabi.”

She chuckled at that. “Well, it might take a little getting used to, being around someone who likes food and isn’t obsessed with eating healthy all the time and counting calories and watching their weight.”

“Well, we’ll just deal with it however you need to,” he said, tucking her hair behind her ear. “If you get in a frame of mind where you feel you just need to be really healthy then we’ll eat really healthy. I can make good tasting food that’s healthy. And I won’t ever pressure you to eat junk or anything, or eat it in front of you if you just can’t do it.”

She smiled widely at him, and then moved up a little more to lean in and kiss him softly. He let his fingers tangle slightly in her hair, keeping her close. She seemed to take that as encouragement and deepened the kiss, gripping his shirt slightly. Eventually, she pulled away and looked down at him, flushing a little bit. “Sorry if that was forward.”

“I don’t know,” he said. “I kind of liked it.”

“Yeah?” she asked.

He nodded. “Yeah.” He let his fingers trail through her hair and then trail along her back. “Can I...” He trailed off after a moment. “Do you want to go to the dance at Verdant with me?”

Her eyes widened slightly, and then she gave him a smile that was almost as wide and brilliant as the one she’d had when she’d had him unexpectedly pinned to the mat the evening before. “Really?” she asked.

“Yeah,” he asked. He was quiet for a moment. “I’ve been trying to figure out if I should ask you or how I should ask for a couple days now. Maybe longer than that. I was sparring with Chris a couple days after the movie marathon and he was riding me about being attracted to you and I was denying it, but...I don’t know. I just didn’t want to put myself out there again. I didn’t want to get hurt.”

She reached up and hesitated a moment, then touched the side of his face. “I won’t hurt you,” she said softly, cupping his cheek. “I really like you, and I don’t want to be anything at all like your ex was.”

“You’re nothing like she was,” he said quietly. “I think that’s part of the reason I like you so much. She was only after my money. She never cared about me. But you actually care. You...understand me. And like you said, you like me. So I know you’d never hurt me, at least if you can help it.”

“Good,” she said. She looked down at him. “You know, I don’t need breakfast right away. Do you?”

He shook his head slightly. “Nope,” he said, moving his hand to pull her in for another kiss. He had the feeling that probably by the end of the day everyone was going to know about him and Zoe, and he’d never hear the end of it, but for right now it was just the two of them and they could ignore the world and it was all good. Everything was _really_ good.


End file.
